Breathless A Hunger Games Clato fanfic
by jessicahutcherson
Summary: With only a week until the reaping day Clove meets her ally Cato, will she fall head over heels in love with him, or will she want to murder brutal, bloody Cato?
1. 1 week until reaping day

**Cloves POV.**

I was already late as I swallowed my last bite of bread before rushing off to the training centre,

"I'll be home soon dad!" I shout as I slam the door behind me.

I run as fast as my feet can take me to the training centre, I don't want to waste the last week of training before the reaping. Here in district 2, we train to be in The Hunger Games, each year the district vote for who they think will be the best male and female tribute. This year, I was chosen. The boy who was chosen is called Cato. I've never really spoken to him, but if he is who I'm going to be up against, I should probably get to know him a bit better to find out what his strengths and weaknesses are. I finally arrive at the training centre to find Cato is over at the spear station. He is strong and muscular, but his aim is poor compared to mine. I'm a knife thrower, I have been ever since I was about 8. I quietly go over to the knife throwing station and throw a few knifes to try to scare him off, although he doesn't really seem to be paying attention. Now that I study him more, I realise how attractive he really is, he has piercing blue eyes and golden blonde hair, oh and you can't forget his muscles. He begins to walk over,

"So you're clove?"

I decide that I should act ignorant,

"Yes, who are you?"

"I'm Cato, you know, the chosen male tribute?"

"Never heard of you."

He looks me up and down,

"Well then Clove, perhaps we should train together? Become a team?"

"Well there's only one winner in the end and-"

"And that winner is going to be me."

He gives a cheeky grin and shoves me. We go around all the stations together giving each other advice, and making jokes, he is actually an incredibly strong competitor and I should probably start to step my game up if I want to win. The trainer shouts over and says that he thinks it's time we go home,

"Well I'll see you tomorrow Ca-"

and before I know it, he has pinned me against the wall and we are kissing, his lips are warm and soft, I've never kissed a boy, but it feels right, I cannot believe I am kissing Cato.

"Shit… I shouldn't have done that…" and he runs out of the training centre.


	2. 5 days until reaping day

_I just wanted to say thank you all for the great response to the last chapter! I will try to publish a new chapter every other day! (:_

**Catos POV.**

I can see dust floating in the sun's rays as it beams through my window. Today is June 15th, two days since I kissed Clove. I still cannot believe I did it. I really shouldn't have, because now, I think I like her, like, REALLY like her. I like her bright emerald eyes, her silky black hair, everything about her. She's delicate but lethal. I skipped training yesterday because I'm scared, what if she hates me now? I finally stretch and get up to go downstairs and get something to eat. My mum greets me with the usual,

"Morning sweetie!" and a kiss on the cheek.

Since dad died I'm all she has left. Winning the games means she can live with me in victor's village with endless amounts of money, but if I lose, she will have nothing left. I don't know how she would cope. I have to go train today, I can't afford to miss training 5 days before the reaping.

**Cloves POV.**

I hurdle a knife towards the heart of a dummy as Cato walks in, I quickly turn away, shy and nervous. He walks over just as he did last time when he introduced himself.

"Hey Clove!"

"Um, Hi..."

"Are you ready to train? Only 5 days until the reaping!"

"Yeah, where were you yesterday?"

"Let's not worry about that, we have training to do."

Then he kisses me on the forehead. Why is he acting like this? Is he trying to make me fall in love with him so that I won't kill him? I won't fall for his games. We train for a while and he flirts, he makes me feel... special. After a while he says,

"Would you like to go for a picnic instead? We're already pretty good, and I think we can miss a day..."

I guess he's right; we're pretty much already set for the games.

"Sure, I guess we should get to know each other if we're going to be allies."

He smiles and grabs my hand as we walk to his house where we set up a basket full of food and a blanket.


	3. A picnic with Cato

**Catos POV.**

I can't believe it; Clove has agreed to go to a picnic with me. I've really fallen for her. She's perfect in every way, her smile, the glint in her eye, the way her silky black hair falls down her back, absolutely everything. I can feel my hands getting clammy as our fingers are interlocked. We are about to leave my house when I say that I should introduce her to my mum, Clove agrees.

"Hey mum! I have someone I want you to meet!"

My mum walks over and smiles,

"Who's this Cato?"

"This is my friend Clove."

"Friend huh?"

"Yeah, we're going to go for a picnic, I'll be home soon ok?"

"Sure son, have fun, nice to meet you Clove!"

I know exactly where I want to take Clove, there's this lake in the woods near my house that I used to run to when my dad died. It's peaceful, and beautiful, she will love it. We walk for a while, fingers still interlocked, laughing and joking, she is cutest when she laughs. We are almost at the lake when I tell her to put on a blindfold.

"You're not going to blindfold and kill me before we even get into the games are you?" she says playfully.

I carefully guide her through the branches until we reach the lake.

"You can take off your blindfold."

**Cloves POV.**

I rub my eyes as Cato takes my blindfold off. I'm speechless,

"It's absolutely beautiful."

"Yeah, I used to come here to think when my dad died…"

"I'm so sorry Cato."

We lay out the picnic right next to the lake so we can dip our toes into the water. It's a beautiful day out, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and Cato is sat right next to me. I'm hesitant to ask, but I find the words escaping from my mouth,

"How did you dad die?"

"Well, you know how district 2 specialises in Masonry? He was helping build a building when a huge boulder came crashing down on him…"

"Oh my god Cato, I'm so sorry…"

He gives me a reassuring smile,

"It's fine, it's not your fault," then he kisses my forehead.

I love when he does that. We talk, and kiss, for a few more hours before it starts to get dark.

"We should start to make a move, it's getting dark."

We pack up our picnic and Cato starts to walk me home. We get to my house,

"I'll see you tomorrow Clove?"

"I'll see you tomorrow."

I begin to turn around before he grabs my arm and kisses me again, his lips are warm and my stomach is filled with butterflies, it's as if our lips are shaped to fit each other's. My fingers run through his silky blonde hair and he bites my lip. Cato gives the best kisses,

"See you tomorrow Clove."

He gives me one last kiss on my forehead and runs home.


	4. The Reaping is tomorrow

**Cloves POV.**

I wake up breathing heavily and sweating, I had a terrible nightmare. I was in the games with Cato and we were the only two left, we didn't want to kill each other but that's when he turned into a mutt, he turned into a huge vicious mutt and started running after me, I ran as fast as I could through the woods, tripping on branches before he caught up to me, I screamed as loud as I could before he ripped my throat out with his teeth, and that's when I woke up. I'm still panting as I check the date on the calender, June 19th, which means only one day until the reaping. Only one day until Cato and I are shipped off the the games. Only one day until Cato and I are going to have to kill each other. I won't be able to do it, what if we really are the only two left? I know that I won't be able to kill him. There will be twenty-four of us. Odds are someone else will kill him before I do. I pull myself out of bed and put on some clothes and run to Catos house. I need to spend our last full day at District 2 with him. I knock on the door when his mum answers,

"Hey there Clove, are you here for Cato? Come in! Would you like something to drink?"

"I'm fine thank you, is Cato awake?"

"No, he's still in bed, you can go wake him up if you want?"

"Thank you."

I run upstairs to his room where he is sound asleep, he looks so young when he's asleep, but he still looks as scary as usual. I whisper in his ear,

"Cato..." he doesn't answer,

"Cato..." still no answer.

I'm pretty tired as it is, so I pull up his cover and crawl into bed with him. He stirs and opens one eye,

"Hey Clove!"

"Shh, I'm tired, let's go back to sleep."

What if the games didn't exist? What if Cato and I could grow old together and have kids? He grins and kisses my forehead before we fall back to sleep.

**Catos POV.**

I'm woken by Cloves screams,

"What's wrong? It's okay, it was just a dream, it's okay Clove."

I cradle her in my arms reassuring her,

"It's okay Clove." I feel her tears against my chest,

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, it's fine, you're right, it was just a nightmare."

I squeeze her tighter and kiss her forehead. That's when it hits me, tomorrow is the reaping day. Tomorrow Clove and I are sent to train to fight.

"I guess we better go train, ya know with the reaping being tomorrow and all..."

She smiles, "I guess you're right."

We get out of bed and go downstairs to get something to eat, my mum makes us some egg and bacon, even though we are one of the richer districts, it's rare to get a nice meal like this. Clove and I eat our breakfast before leaving to go to our final day of training.

"Thank you mum, I'll be home soon."

"Have fun sweetie, and Clove, you're welcome to come back and eat dinner if you would like? I'm making something special since it's the day before... well... you know..."

Clove says thank you and we head to the training centre. We get half way there before I say

"You know what? It's out last day at home, why not spend it somewhere nice? Shall we go to the lake again?"

She smiles and says "Why not?"

**Cloves POV.**

Cato and I begin our walk down to the lake, people give us looks as we walk hand in hand, a few people even whisper, Cato gives my hand a reassuring squeeze. We finally get to the lake and sit on a log, we talk for a while, although I feel like I've known him for years, like an old friend. I want him to be more than a friend, but are we already? We kiss all the time, and hold hands...

"Cato?"

"Yes Clove?"

"Are we going out? I mean, I really like you, and people have been saying things..."

He looks delighted and says, "Well Clove, I guess we are going out."

I kiss him this time, voluntarily. He doesn't stop me, he runs his fingers through my hair. We finally part for air when he says,

"We should look at the clouds."

"What?"

"We should lay in the grass, and look at the clouds, see what pictures we can make out of the clouds."

We lay in that grass, still hand in hand pointing out rabbits, squirrels, and even pigs in the clouds. Cato turns towards me,

"Clove?"

"Yes Cato?"

"I love you." My stomach is filled with butterflies again and I feel all warm a fuzzy,

"I love you too."

He leans in and kisses me again. We eventually decide that we should start heading home, he whisks me off my feet and carry's me all the way home.

"Thank you for a great day Cato."

"You're welcome Clove, I'll see you tomorrow, wear your best dress!"

He gives a cheeky wink and a quick kiss before running home. It's official. I love Cato.


	5. The Reaping Day

**Cloves POV.**

I'm awoken by the morning sun peeking over the hill through my window. It's today, today is the reaping day, today Cato and I will be sent off to the Capitol. I decide that I should get up and go spend some alone time with Cato, it's the last we will ever get. I pull on my clothes and put my hair in a ponytail before setting off to Cato's house. I'm greeted by his mother who tells me I can go see him upstairs. I walk into his room to see that his is awake,  
"Good morning Clove,"  
"Morning Cato,"  
I walk over and kiss his warm lips,  
"Ew morning breath!" I say cheekily.  
"So Clove, are you ready? Today is the day."  
"I'm ready, but do you think we should get some last minute training in?"  
"No, I think we will be fine, plus we get training time at the Capitol anyway,"  
"I guess you're right."  
I crawl into bed with him and we just cuddle, his body encloses mine, he makes me feel safe.  
He begins to whisper in my ear,  
"I love you Clove, and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you win these games."  
"But Cato, what about your mum? She won't have anyone, and I don't think I will be able to survive without you..."  
"Clove, it's okay, she got over my dad, she will cope."  
I can't handle to thought of Cato dying, how will I go on without him? The thoughts are crossing my mind as Cato's mum calls up the stairs,  
"Clove! You better go home and get ready; the reaping is in one hour!"  
"Ok! Thank you!"

**Cato's POV.**

I'm almost at Districts twos hall of justice when I see clove in her reaping dress, she looks absolutely gorgeous, the little green flowers bring out the green in her eyes. She catches my eye and I give a smile. I eventually sign in and go stand with the other boys my age. This is it. I am going to be the male tribute for district 2. Our districts chaperone Venus trots across the stage in her ridiculous heels. This year her hair is pale blue and her outfit is a complementary light purple.  
"Welcome, welcome, welcome, Happy Hunger Games, and, may the odds be ever in your favour!"  
God I hate the Capitol accent.  
"Now before we begin, we have a very special film brought to you all the way to the Capitol!"  
They play this same film every year, it talks about the dark days, and how to prevent another uprising they created the hunger games. I can't concentrate, all I can think about is Clove and I, we're only 17 and were being sent off to brutally murder. I turn towards Clove to see her looking at me, she gives a small grin, she's strong, but I can tell she's scared. I'm about to whisper to Clove before Venus speaks again.  
"As per usual, ladies first."  
She walks over to the glass bowl filled with thousands of slips. What a waste of slips, since Clove will be volunteering anyway. Before Venus can even read the name out Clove shouts,  
"I volunteer as tribute!"  
Tears well up into my eyes, I already knew she would be volunteering, but it kills me hearing her say it. She's walked up to the stage by four peacekeepers, and Venus asks her for her name,  
"Clove Mason." I can hear the pain in her voice.  
"Now, for the boys."  
Venus walks over to the bowl and picks the slip on the very top. She reads it out and surprisingly, it's my name. I guess the odds aren't in my favour. Venus says a few last words before hurrying us into the justice building where we get one hour to say our goodbyes. I'm sat in a leather chair when my mum walks in. We don't say much, I just sit hugging her as she sobs.  
"Be strong Cato, I know you can win this, do it for your dad, and make him proud."  
I hate lying to her, but I have to,  
"I'll be home soon mum."  
The peacekeepers come to tell us that our hour is up; she gives me one last kiss on the cheek, before I'm rushed to the train station where we will begin our ride to the Capitol.


	6. The Train Ride

_I'm sorry it's really short, I have exams :(_

Cloves POV.

I catch a glimpse of Cato as we walk to the train; I can see the pain in his eyes, the pain of knowing me may not go back to his mum. Venus opens the carriage door; the inside is absolutely beautiful, crystal chandeliers, platinum door knobs, just absolutely beautiful. I go straight to my room; I just want to lie down and forget everything. I take a short nap before being woken by Cato's knocks on the door,  
"Clove, would you like to watch the reaping's with me?"  
"Sure, I'd love to see the competition this year."  
I get out of bed and go into the main carriage where everyone is gathered around a TV.  
"Nice of you to join us Clove!" says Venus in her horrible Capitol accent.

I curl up next to Cato as we watch the reaping in other districts. Our ally's from 1 look strong this year, although the girl looks like a bit of a ditsy blonde. The girl from 5 looks sly, I'll have to remind myself to look out for her. The girl from 11 can't be more than 12 years old; I wonder if she has siblings who could have volunteered for her? The boy from her district is huge; we might even have to consider him for the careers. A little girl from 12 was picked but before she could even begin walking towards the stage, a girl, who I assume is her sister, was hysterical and volunteered for her; the young girl started screaming but the sister, I think she said her name was Katniss, just remained silent. The boy from 12 looked absolutely terrified when he was picked; he was quite big too which is surprising for an outlying district. These games should be really interesting.

"Well this year should be easy!" says Cato laughing.

Venus yawns and says, "I guess I better go to bed, we have a big day tomorrow!"  
We all agree and retire to bed. I lay there for an hour or so, but I can't sleep, I want to be with Cato. I walk across the hall to his room and open the door slowly,  
"Cato, can I sleep with you? I'm scared that the nightmares will come back…"  
He pulls the duvet up and pats the area next to him,  
"Come here Clove."  
I get under the duvet and fall asleep to a sweet song that Cato sings to me.  
**  
**Catos POV.  
I wake up to see Clove still curled up next to me sound asleep, I move a stray strand of hair from her face before she stirs,  
"Morning Cato,"  
"Good morning my beau-,"  
"What are you two doing?" gasps Venus as she bursts through the door.  
"We weren't doing anything inappropriate!" I snap back at her.  
"Hmph, just make sure no one knows about this, and get ready, we will be at the Capitol soon." then she slams the door shut.

"I wonder why she is so stressed out," says Clove.

"I don't know, but you better go get ready" I reply.

Once Clove leaves I hop into the shower, there are all these buttons that you press that can do things from massaging your feet, to washing your hair. After my body is scrubbed red raw from the shower I hop out and stand on a pad that dries you in an instant. A set of clothes are laid out on my bed for me, I pull them on and go to eat breakfast. Clove is already sat down with our mentor Enobaria , she won the 62nd games, she ripped out the throats of other tributes with her own teeth, she even her teeth cosmetically altered to be sharp at the ends. I walk over and Clove smiles at me. I eat a few slices of bread; I'm not really too hungry. I'm more nervous for the chariot ride tonight, if we want sponsors we have to act and look right. The light streaming through the windows turns pitch black as we are travelling through the mountains up to the capitol. We finally pull up to the station where hundreds of sick Capitol citizens are eager to see this year's tribute.


End file.
